Descendants of John Lynn and Jennet Malcolm

County Antrim, Ireland to Chester County, South Carolina to Randolph County, Illinois

Dispersal of Some of the Descendants of John Lynn and Jennet Malcolm by James H. Lynn

Contributor’s1 Note: My interest in this family has been piqued by the discovery of a reference to a family Bible which states that Jane Lynn, the first child of John Lynn and Jennet Malcolm, was born in the Parish of Connor, County Antrim, Ireland. If this is factual, it places Jane and her father very close to my Lynn ancestors who lived in the townland of Eskylane in the Parish of the Grange of Shilvodan which is adjacent to the Parish of Connor. A grange was farmland associated with a church or monastery in medieval days and the town of Connor in the parish of Connor was an ancient ecclesiastical site with which the Grange of Shilvodan was associated. The will of my great-great grandfather Samuel Linn (c.1780-1857) refers to his townland, Eskylane, as being “in the Parish of Connor”.2

John Lynn (1736-1820), his wife Jennet Malcolm (1747-1813), and their infant daughter Jane (or Jean) Lynn emigrated from County Antrim, Ireland to Chester County, South Carolina, in 1772 along with other Presbyterian Covenanters led by the Rev. William Martin.3 The Rev. Martin, who led five shiploads of followers to Charleston, was an agent for the Master of the ship, ‘The Lord Dunluce’, and Martin‘s location was Kellswater, where he was the minister in the Covenanter Church.4

Edith Elizabeth Lynn, a descendant of John and Jennet, published a book in 1983 identifying their children and tracing many descendants, some through their daughter Jane who married John McGuire, but primarily through their son John Lynn who married Sarah McCullough.5 A year earlier, in 1982, a history of Chester County, South Carolina had been published and it included an article on the Lynn‘s of Chester County, which concentrated on descendants of Matthew Simonton Lynn, one of the 12 children of John Lynn and Sarah McCullough. Overton H. Crawford6 has also collected the will of John Lynn and information on some of his descendants through Mathew Simonton Lynn.

About 1956 Mrs. Frank Married Torrens prepared a monumental work on families in Sparta, Randolph County, Illinois.8 This includes descendants of John McGuire and Jane Lynn, as well as of Henry Lynn and Eleanor McGarragh, although Mrs. Torrens does not appear to have been aware that Jane and Henry were brother and sister.

In March 1985, William J. Dunwoody of Burbank, California wrote to Edith Elizabeth Lynn enclosing material on descendants of John and Jennet through their son Henry Lynn. Edith Elizabeth had only scanty information on this line. Mr. Dunwoody obtained his information primarily from the work of Mrs. Torrens and other Randolph County, Illinois sources.9

The ‘Lord Dunluce’, the ship on which John Lynn and Jennet Malcolm came to America sailed from Larne in County Antrim to Charleston, arriving on 20 Dec. 1772. Edith Elizabeth Lynn, on the supposition that John was a close relative of the Rev. Matthew Lynn, a Presbyterian clergyman well known in Pennsylvania and South Carolina, speculates that John may have been born in the townland of Corkermain, near the port of Larne on the east coast of Antrim:

“Matthew Lynn was born in Corkermain near Cairn Castle, County Antrim, Ireland so it is possible that this was also the birthplace of John Linn but certainly not an established fact.”10

Stephenson points out that the majority of those accompanying the Rev. Martin were from the vicinity of Ballymoney, Ballymena, Kellswater and Vow.11 These areas are all in west central Antrim and many of the names of those on the ships can be found in records from these areas to this day. Larne would have been the closest port for people from these areas to leave Ireland.

The descendants of John Lynn and Sarah McCullough, the focal couple for the work of Edith Elizabeth Lynn, Overton H. Crawford and the Heritage History of Chester County, largely remained in the east. However, Jane Lynn and John McGuire migrated to Washington County, Illinois, around 1832 according to Edith Elizabeth Lynn, and Eleanor McGarragh, the widow of Henry Lynn, migrated with their children to Randolph County after Henry’s death in 1834.12

The migration of Scotch-Irish settlers and their descendants from Chester County, as well as other locations in the back country of South Carolina such as Abbeville, to the mid-West, and Randolph County, Illinois in particular, is well recognized and documented.

“The Reformed Presbyterians began to move to Ohio and Illinois, so that by 1832 only one congregation remained in South Carolina. But it was these Covenanters who build the R. P. churches that have continued to this day in the “Northeast Territory”, such as Sparta or Coulterville in southern Illinois.”13

“The Covenanters left the county [Chester County] early in the 1800’s on account of the institution of slavery. Slavery was introduced in a very limited extent into the Scotch-Irish settlements before the Revolutionary War. The Scotch-Irish generally regarded slavery with disfavor, but after the Revolutionary War, Covenanters and other Scotch-Irish became to a limited extent slave owners. In 1780 the Reformed Presbytery enacted without a dissenting voice that ‘no slave holder should be allowed the communion of the church’.

It was said, that in obedience to this enactment of the Presbytery that on one day, fifteen hundred dollars worth of slaves were set free on Rocky Creek. Soon after this, many families migrated to the northwestern part of the country and others followed.”14

The migration of Scotch-Irish settlers from South Carolina to the Sparta area of Randolph County, Illinois is also well recognized in the mid-West. An early history describes many Scotch-Irish settlers from the Abbeville and Chester areas of South Carolina, who were known in Illinois as “South Carolina Irish”.15 Further migration of the descendants of some of these settlers into Kansas has also been documented.16

I have been constructing a database on the descendants of John and Jennet based on the work of Edith Elizabeth Lynn and Mrs. Torrens, but confirmed and augmented by Randolph County, Illinois census returns,17 land sales records18 and cemetery readings.19 I am identifying relevant record sources here and in some subsequent paragraphs rather than citing the source of each event described below.

Children of Jane Lynn and John McGuire

Information on the family of Jane Lynn and John McGuire appears in three locations in Mrs. Torrens‘ work and all three make reference to the McGuire family Bible and Jane Lynn having been born in the Parish of Connor. Mrs. Torrens‘ work includes an extensive piece on the descendants of John and Jane,20 a transcription from the McGuire family Bible,21 and a narrative on “John McGuire, Washington and Randolph Counties, Illinois” as told by Mr. E. B. McGuire of Sparta, Illinois”.22

Jane Lynn and John McGuire were married on 2 May 1793, had ten children before leaving Chester Co., South Carolina, and many descendants. Illinois Public Domain Land Sales show fairly extensive land purchases in Washington County, Illinois by their sons, Alexander W[ashington] McGuire and Henry L[ynn] McGuire, and a grandson, Leroy J. McGuire.

Children of Henry Lynn and Eleanor McGarragh

Henry Lynn and Eleanor McGarragh had five children according to Mrs. Torrens24 and Mr. Dunwoody. I suspect that Monroe Lynn (1826-1856) is also a son of Henry and Eleanor and have included him as one of their children. After Henry’s death in 1834, Eleanor and the children moved to the Sparta area in Randolph County, Illinois. Henry is buried in Paul’s Graveyard in Chester, South Carolina.25 I believe Eleanor died after 1870, but I have not found her name in the Sparta area cemetery transcriptions.

Eleanor purchased 40 acres of land near Sparta in 1842 (Meridian 3, Range 6W, Township 4S, Section 6, SESE). In 1850 Eleanor was living with her sons, William Riley, Matthew H. and Monroe. In 1860 Eleanor was living with her son Mathew H., by then a physician, and his wife, Mary [Reid], age 20, born in Ireland. Also living with them was Joseph Lynn who, according to Mrs. Torrens, was Eleanor’s grandson through James Clark Lynn.

James Clark Lynn b. 4 Dec 1811, Chester Co., SC, d. 23 June 1853, Sparta, Randolph Co., IL, i. Hill Prairie Cemetery, Sparta, Randolph Co., IL. Married Jane Ewing, b. c.1800, Chester Co., SC, d. 17 Mar 1862, Sparta, Randolph, Co., IL, i. Hill Prairie Cemetery, Sparta, Randolph Co., IL. James Clark was living with his wife Jane in Illinois in 1850. His widow, Jane, was living with Margaret Ewing and Nancy Ewing in 1860. Margaret and Nancy were both born in SC and could be sisters or nieces of Jane. A daughter, Mary E., was born and died in South Carolina and is buried in Paul’s Graveyard.26 A son, Joseph, bought 40 acres of land in 1854 (SWSW, section 27, Township 4S, Range 7W). Joseph, who appears not to have married, died at 30 years of age in 1861 and is buried in Hill Prairie Cemetery.

John Lynn b. 3 Aug 1814, Chester Co., SC, d. 11 Apr 1861, Sparta, Randolph Co., IL, i. Hill Prairie Cemetery, Sparta, Randolph Co., IL. Married Mary Jane Armour, b. 13 May 1823, IL, d. 7 Jan 1907, Randolph Co., IL, i. Hill Prairie Cemetery, Sparta, Randolph. Co., IL. John Lynn secured land in the same township as his mother, but in different sections–40 acres in Section 9 (SWNE) in 1844 and 80 acres in Section 32 (NWSE and NENE) in 1853. John and Mary Jane were married 1 Aug 1844 and appear in the Illinois Statewide Marriage Index.27 John and Mary Jane appear in the 1850 Census with two children, Thomas A[rmour], age 5, and Eleanor, age 1. Eleanor is likely their daughter Hattie who was born in 1849. Their daughter Eleanor (10 May 1847 – 6 July 1848) is buried in Hill Prairie Cemetery with the notation “with John & Mary etc.” In 1860 John and Mary Jane had seven children living with them, all born in Illinois. Another child named Eleanor was born in 1861. John and Mary Jane’s children are described below, and Mrs. Torrens has some information on two subsequent generations.

Children of John Lynn and Mary Jane Armour

John Lynn was certainly the most prolific of Henry Lynn‘s children. Mrs. Torrens identifies six children: Thomas Armour, John Armour, Harriet, Maria, Robert Renwick, and Eleanor. Mr. Dunwoody identifies eight children; he does not have John Armour, but adds John Calvin, William Melville, and Henry C. Cemetery inscriptions indicate two other children buried with John and Mary Jane: Eleanor H. and James H. It appears then that John and Mary Jane had 11 children.

John Armour Lynn b. 8 May 1846, Sparta, Randolph Co., IL, d. 6 Feb 1926, Sparta, Randolph Co., IL, i. Hill Prairie Cemetery, Sparta, Randolph Co., IL. Married (1) Martha Redpath, b. 30 May 1852, d. 22 Apr 1877, Sparta, Randolph, IL, i. Hill Prairie Cemetery, Sparta, Randolph Co., IL. Married (2) Ann Hayes, b. 28 Feb 1846, Winnsboro, SC, d. 19 July 1910, Sparta, Randolph Co., IL, i. Hill Prairie Cemetery, Sparta, Randolph Co., IL. John Armour Lynn poses a bit of a problem. A John Armour Lynn is buried in Hill Prairie Cemetery. Also buried there are his two wives, Martha Redpath and Ann Hays, and his five children. John Armour Lynn appears in Mrs. Torrens‘ work, but not in Mr. Dunwoody‘s material. Nor does a John Armour Lynn appear with his apparent parents, John Lynn and Mary Jane Armour, in the 1850 or 1860 Federal Censuses when he would have been only 4 and 14 years old respectively. John Armour Lynn and Martha Redpath were married on 26 Oct 1871 and had three children, William R. (1874-1858) and twins, John and Martha, both of whom died as infants in 1877. John Armour Lynn and Ann Hayes were married about 1878 and had two children, Margaret (1879-1882) and Martha (1881-1949).

John Calvin Lynn b. 10 May 1851, Sparta, Randolph Co., IL, d. 4 June 1934. John Calvin Lynn is identified by Mr. Dunwoody and must be the Rev. J. C. Lynn, retired minister of the United Presbyterian Church in Kansas City, Missouri, with whom William Hemphill Millen was corresponding in 1919, as cited in Edith Elizabeth Lynn‘s book.29 There is also a reference to John Lynn becoming a minister in “History of Jordan’s Grove Church”.30

Another Family: William Linn and Rebecca Irwin

Mrs. Torrens also has some information on the descendants of William Linn who was born in Ireland and also moved to the Sparta area from South Carolina in the 1830s.31 William is age 75 in the 1850 census and 90 in the 1860 Federal Census of Sparta, Randolph Co., Illinois. Mrs. Torrens states “tradition says [William] lived to be 100 yrs. old”. William purchased land in 1839 in the same township as Eleanor (McGarragh) Lynn, in section 26. His son Robert purchased land in section 34 and his son William J. in section 21 of the same township. These lands are very close to the land purchased by Eleanor’s son, John Lynn. One of William’s sons, Charles E. Linn, is buried in Caledonia Cemetery along with his wife, Nancy Rebecca Despar, and some of their children.

One cannot help but wonder if this William Linn is related to the John Lynn who migrated from County Antrim to South Carolina in 1772.

Footnotes

National Archives of Ireland, Church of Ireland Consistorial Will Book: Connor (1853-1858) will no. 9006. Family History Library film no. 100,903. ↩

The story of the migration is told by Jean Stephenson in Scotch-Irish Migration To South Carolina, 1772 (Rev. William Martin and His Five Shiploads of Settlers) (Strasburg, Virginia: Shenandoah Publishing House, 1971). ↩

Kellswater is in the townland of Carnaghts in the Parish of Connor. See Kellswater Reformed Presbyterian Church, Co. Antrim, A Short History, by Robert Buchanan, published by The Congregational Committee, Kellswater Reformed Presbyterian Church, 21 Grove Road, Shankbridge, Ballymena, Northern Ireland, BT42 3DP, June 1989. The Rev. William Martin is listed as the Minister from 1760 to 1772. ↩

Overton H. Crawford, Our Family: A Record of Some of the Descendents of John Lynn I, Born 1763, Died Sept. 1820; Daniel Jones, Born Feb. 16, 1768, Died May 7, 1845. Unpublished, no date; copy at The Chester District Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 336, Richburg, M. C. 29729 . ↩

Edith Elizabeth Lynn, op. cit., p 13, states that Jane is buried in a plot next to that of her husband, but I could not find John in any of the cemetery transcriptions. ↩

Mr. Dunwoody‘s letter and attached material were passed on by Edith Elizabeth Lynn to Phyllis Bauer and by Phyllis on to me. ↩

Edith Elizabeth Lynn, op. cit., p. 2. There does not appear to be any documentation regarding the birthplace of Mathew Lynn. A local historian suggested that John Lynn and the Rev. Mathew Lynn were related: “In 1787 Rev. Matthew Lynn, one of the Reformed Presbyterians who entered into the union which formed the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, visited the region of country near Richburg. In this community there lived a John Lynn, a relation of Rev. Matthew Lynn. John Lynn came to America in 1772 in company with Rev. William Martin. At the house of John Lynn, Rev. Matthew Lynn began to preach.” A Historical Sketch of Union A. R. P. Church, Chester County, South Carolina By Rev. R. Lathan, D. D., 1888, Reprinted by the Chester County Genealogical Society, Richburg, South Carolina, 1980, p. 11 ↩

Eleanor’s father, the Rev. William McGarragh, emigrated from County Down and succeeded the Rev. William Martin as Minister to the Covenanters in Rocky Creek, M. C. See “Sketch of the Covenanters of Rocky Creek, South Carolina About 1750-1840”, Transcribed by Phyllis J. Bauer, Lynn/Linn Lineage, Vol. 6, No. 4 (Winter 1992) p.95. Stephenson, op. cit., p. 24, notes that the only daughter of the Rev. William Martin married a John McCaw of York Co. SC and predeceased him. McCaw later moved with his family to Randolph Co., Illinois. ↩

From an article written by the Rev. Robert Lathan and published in the Associate Reformed Presbyterian, September 13, 1888. Reprinted in The Bulletin, Chester District Genealogical Society, Vol. 1, No. 2 (June 1978) p.3. ↩

Combined History of Randolph, Monroe and Perry Counties, Illinois, With Illustrations Descriptive of Their Scenery and Biographical Sketches of some of their Prominent Men and Pioneers, Published by J. L. McDonough & Co., Philadelphia, 1883. See also “Abbeville Scotch Irish”, Trails, quarterly journal of the Randolph County, Illinois Genealogical Society, vol. 2, no. 4 (1992). The Randolph County Genealogical Society has published Randolph County, Illinois History 1795-1995, but I have not had an opportunity to read it. ↩

William Cuthbertson, “Presbyterian Pioneers of Crawford County, Kansas who Migrated From Near Sparta, Illinois”, Seeker, quarterly journal of the Crawford Genealogical Society, vol. 11, no. 3 (Fall 1981) p. 49. Some descendants of Jean Lynn and John McGuire are cited in this article. ↩

For Lynn‘s/Linns in Randolph County in the 1850 Census, see the compilation by Phyllis Bauer, “Lynn/Linns Found In The 1850 Federal Census of Illinois”, Lynn/Linn Lineage Quarterly, Vol. 1, No. 3 (Fall 1987) p. 75. Phyllis also sent me an extraction of Lynn/Linns from the 1860 Census. ↩

See the extraction by Phyllis Bauer of Lynn‘s indicating volume and page numbers from the State of Illinois, Archives Division, Public Domain Sales Land Tract Record Listing in Lynn/Linn Lineage Quarterly, Vol. XII, N. 4 (Winter 1998) pp. 102-107. These records, which provide the purchase date, can be obtained from the Illinois Archives. The same information can be obtained from the Bureau of Land Management – Eastern States, General Land Office. The BLM Land Patent Report includes a document number and provides the signature date, which may be a few years after the purchase date. A copy of the land patent document can be downloaded from the site. ↩

Randolph County cemetery inscriptions have been transcribed by Lucille Wiechens, Cemeteries of Randolph County, 5 vols. c.1989, FHL film no. 2,055,284. Descendants of John Lynn and Jennet Malcolm in Hill Prairie Cemetery are found in Vol. I, pages 182-183 of the FHL film, and those in Caledonia Cemetery in Vol. 3, p. 54 of the FHL film. Mrs. Frank Married Torrens also transcribed Randolph County cemetery inscriptions, but at an earlier date. Inscriptions can now be found on the Randolph County Web Site at http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilrandol/. ↩

“Bible Record; The ‘McGuire‘ Family Bible”, ibid, p. 1123. It is not clear whether the reference to Jane Linn having been born in Connor Parish is in the transcription from the Bible or in Mrs. Torrens‘ introduction to the transcription. ↩

Tombstone Records of Chester County, South Carolina and Vicinity, Volume I, p. 136, compiled by Louise Kelly Crowder, 157 York Street, Chester, M. C., 1970. John Lynn and Jennet Malcolm and other members of their family are also buried in Paul’s Graveyard. ↩

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